The Basics: One Hour Pressure Cooker Chicken Broth

Learn how to make pressure cooker chicken broth in one hour. This is a simple, basic recipe that can easily be customized to your own taste!

And just like that, i’m all domesticated and making my own chicken broth and everything.

But you know what, I’m a cheater. That’s what I am. Because we’re making a quick and easy pressure cooker chicken broth that takes an hour plus 5 minutes to make. And the countless benefits! Let’s talk about how it’s low on the sodium, made to your taste, FRESH, you get a whole cooked chicken when you’re done, and something about homemade chicken broth that just tastes 1000 times better than the store bought stuff.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m definitely not above store-bought chicken broth. It’s perfect for when you need to get dinner on the table quickly. Or when you’re under-the-weather and NEED chicken noodle soup FAST and can’t even think about making your own broth.

But around this time, when the weather starts cooling down, I love making a batch of pressure cooker chicken broth to keep in the freezer. Not only do you get a whole cooked chicken at the end of it, you also get around 2 quarts of the freshest, made-to-preference chicken broth. You can keep the chicken stock or broth in the refrigerator for 5 days. And it’ll last for 2 months in the freezer. Just pop it in the microwave for a few minutes and BAM — homemade chicken broth at your fingertips.

This July, I took the plunge and invested in an Instant Pot. And i’ve got to say I LOVE IT. I went into the whole thing thinking i’d use it as a slow cooker or even to cook rice or quinoa quickly. What I didn’t see myself doing is making pressure cooker chicken broth. I usually would let a big pot of water simmer with veggies and a whole chicken for a at least half the day on the back burner of the stove. Low and slow. And by usually, I mean the TWO TIMES in my adult life that i’ve actually made chicken broth from scratch not using a pressure cooker.

What I love about this pressure cooker chicken stock recipe is that it takes 5 minutes to prep the chicken and veggies. You then add it all into the Instant Pot and letting it do it’s thing. It’ll take around 20 minutes for the pressure to build-up. Then 1 hour for the broth to PREPARE ITSELF. So sit back, catch up on a couple episodes of Gilmore Girls (can you tell i’m excited?) while your whole house smells like slow simmered chicken broth.

You have a few different options for making chicken broth in the pressure cooker. I like to use a whole, raw, skin on chicken. Because when it’s done, I have a whole chicken that I can shred and use in a recipe or freeze for later. You can also use 2 1/2 -3 pounds of chicken pieces, like chicken wings, drumsticks, necks, or thighs. Chicken breasts usually don’t make the best chicken broth, so I suggest pieces that have bones. The last option, use 2-3 rotisserie chicken carcasses. That’s a terrible word, ‘carcasses’ and I’m terribly sorry for using it.

What makes this chicken broth extra special, the 5 minutes we take to just sear the skin. This causes the skin to brown and adds so much flavor to final product. One thing that sets this chicken broth recipe apart is a couple teaspoons of nutritional yeast. It’s said to help boost immune functions and has antiviral properties. Don’t worry, using nutritional yeast is completely optional, but I do feel it adds a nice bit of flavor and color to the broth.

This pressure cooker chicken broth // chicken stock // bone broth — whatever you wanna call it — is perfect to use in all your recipes! Make a batch this week and have it on hand for all your favorite recipes!

Friends! I hope you aren’t mad that I called this a “one hour chicken broth recipe”. It’ll take just 5 extra minutes to sear the chicken but I PROMISE this will make your final product sooo much better!

Directions:

PRESSURE COOKER/ INSTANT POT: Heat the pressure cooker on high (use sauté button for Instant Pot), when hot, add the oil along with the carrots, onions, celery, and garlic and allow the oil to just brown the outside of the veggies for 1 minute. Remove the veggies to a plate. Add the whole chicken (or pieces) to the pot and allow the skin to brown on both sides for a total of 4 minutes.

Add the veggies back into the instant pot along with the peppercorns, nutritional yeast, salt, parsley, and thyme. Pour in cold water till it reaches the 10 cup line.

Make sure the pressure valve is on the ‘sealed’ setting. Lock the lid, press the ‘manual’ button and hit the up arrow until the display reads 60 minutes. It’ll take around 20 minutes for the pressure to build up before it actually starts the cooking process.

When done, move the valve to the ‘venting’ position to do a quick release, or allow the pressure to release naturally. Allow the broth to cool a bit before removing the chicken and veggies. If using a whole chicken you can shred it and use immediately or freeze till ready to use. Once the broth cools a bit, strain it into freezer safe containers (if freezing). You can refrigerate the broth for up to 5 days and freeze for up to 2 months.

SLOW COOKER: Use a large sauté pan to brown the veggies and the chicken (read step #1) and transfer all the ingredients along with 10 cups of water into a slow cooker. Allow the slow cooker to cook on the low setting for 8-14 hours. Remove veggies/ chicken. Strain into freezer-safe containers.